In space there is no up and down...

Posted on 8/2/1992 by STRACZYNSKI [Joe] to GENIE

In space there is no up and down (though I *think* the station was, fromour perspective, right-side up...haven't looked at it in a while).

Well, as of tomorrow, Monday, we are exactly one week from filming. Ourcostume designer pointed out that making a project like this is a lot likemaking Thanksgiving dinner...you set a dozen different things going atdifferent times, and hope they all come together at the right moment in theright way. So far, I think we're on track.

Costumes are almost finished; we'll have all the command uniforms byTuesday or so, and the rest by week's end. Most of the on-screen displaysyou'll see live on consoles in the observation dome and suchlike are finished(and are really amazing in their detail)...there's one shot where they do anavigational location on Kosh's ship that's really quite lovely.

One thing that I haven't mentioned to date is the lighting, because wewere looking at our options; everything else in the show is state of the art,and we wanted to find something equally innovative. It took a while, but wefound a company that does very different sorts of lighting, and will give theshow a unique look and texture in most every shot.

Construction is finished on most of our primary sets, and now they'rebeing painted and dressed. We've spent a lot of this past week going overprops...guns and glasses, displays and dice, you name it. There are a numberof things that can actually transfer pretty well to the future withoutmodification, but a lot more that have to be redesigned or modified.

Prosthetics are in place. The full cast assembles either tomorrow orTuesday and we begin rehearsals. The shots have already been blocked out bythe director, A.D. and cinematographer. We were getting a little cramped forspace on the sets, so we've co-opted another soundstage, and now there's areal spacious feel to some of this stuff.

The miniature of the Garden (with its infamous Death Pizza cap) is aboutfinished, and most of the other physical items are done.

I'm going through the script tonight, and tomorrow, one last time toadjust lines, make them stronger, scratch for every possible inch ofcharacterization. Then we'll lock it down Wednesday, so from that moment on,there shouldn't be any further changes of substance. Which is great for thecast, since they don't have to constantly be learning new lines.

Monday is our last major production meeting before filming starts.After that, it's simply a matter of holding on and hoping for the best... evenunder the best of conditinos, something can screw up at the lasat _ last _moment, and I live in dread of that. And as a writer, you can never be 100%sure that what works on the page will work on the stage until you get there.(Just glanced up; contitinos could be conditions four lines up. Sorry for thetypos, long day.)

I try to get very zen about these things. It's like firing the arrow;you do all you can to line it up, but once you let go of the arrow, you haveto also let go mentally. You've done all you can, now live with it. Ourdirector has indicated that he's going to spend most of the Sunday before webegin filming sleeping...on a project of this size, that means a lot of shortnight and long days, so that's important. Me, I'll probably spend the wholenight staring up at the ceiling, eyes like poached eyes, looking like a stillfrom the Ren and Stimpy show or a Tex Avery cartoon.

I'll close with a funny story told to me by one of our crew. He wasworking on a project in New York with a producer, and in the producer's officewas this elaborate grid of vertical and horizontal boxes, laid out on a largesheet of paper. He asked the producer what it was, but the producer onlyshrugged, adding that he'd find out in time.

About two weeks later (he *swears* to me that this is true), he was inthe other room when the producer yelled for him to get inside. The producerwas standing at the window, which overlooked a hotel right across the street,and was very close to this office. Now it became clear...the paperwork gridcorresponded to the rooms in the hotel across the street. "Three up, twoacross," the producer said. The guy checked the grid, found the room, andlooked across the streeet at the corresponding room.

In the hotel room, a lone guy had come in, had taken off all of hisclothes, and taken a seat by the window where he was...er...wanking off.Overlooking the street. The producer gave it just a moment, then checked thegrid, found the room number, called the hotel's front desk, asked for room311. They could see the guy in the hotel room reach for the phone (with hisother hand).

In his deepest voice, the producer said, into the phone, "THIS IS GOD!!!CUT IT OUT!" And hung up.